Consensus by Jason Tesar

Author:Jason Tesar
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: coming of age, mystery, artificial intelligence, action adventure, cyberpunk, female protagonist, spy thrillers
Publisher: Jason Tesar

035

Sometime after midnight, the rain stopped falling. With the declining angle of the Canopy, the climbing became steadily easier. Which was good, because Rena’s body was growing tired from the exertion. Her arms shook each time she reached for another handhold, and she had to keep reminding herself to use her legs instead.

When the angle of the Canopy dropped to the point where the team no longer needed to use their arms, their pace increased substantially. By 3:00 am, they reached the halfway point along the arch to the apex—the point at which they would begin recording when the sun came up. The angle was shallow enough that the threat of falling was no longer a concern. Everyone could stand without being clipped together. It was no more dangerous than standing on a gentle hill, though they were approximately nine hundred meters above the city. And the hill was only a meter wide.

“Good work, Rena,” said Barrett when the team reassembled around her.

Zamoro coiled up the rope and put it in his backpack.

Barrett looked around at what he could see of the Canopy, then he glanced at the device on his wrist. “The temperature’s rising. We have three hours until sunrise. Syon, take the next position to the south. Zamoro, you take the one after that.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Hidinger, you come with me. Rena … get some sleep if you can.”

“Yes, sir,” she replied.

As the group spread out, their bodies disappeared into the fog. The plan was to align themselves in a row from north to south, and it would take the remainder of the night to get the needed distance between each member. Over the course of the coming day, they would record the city below through the panels of the Canopy. The disparity between their overlapping footage would later be used to calculate the dimensions of Esh’s features. They’d move east toward the apex at specified intervals, and according to Fijal’s calculations, it would take the entire day to get the footage they needed and to reach the peak where they’d camp for the night. On the following day, they would record the eastern half of the city, then climb down that side of the Canopy after sundown and return to the safety of the tunnels.

Rena sat down on the beam and took off her backpack. She needed rest, but there was no way she’d be able to sleep. She took out a ration bar—a dried version of the bland porridge that was her first meal as an Outlier—and ate it quickly so her tongue had little time to object. Then she took a few gulps of water from a bottle and lay back on the beam, using her backpack as a pillow. The air was cool but not cold. It smelled fresh and damp, without the scent of weeds so prevalent in the Barrens.

After a few minutes, Rena became aware of the smile on her face. It was invigorating to be above ground again. And not just above ground, but as far above ground as one could get.

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